Anybody get any headphones from Ali that they like, and would they work as hearing protection?
Edifier has an aliexpress store, I have a bluetooth (+ P2 cable option) pair of headphones and a pair of bluetooth earbuds. I like them both (for home and for going out, respectively), except for the earbuds battery life , which is fairly short.
No idea if they work as protection. You mean actual protection from high ambient noise of just to calm down the sounds around? I don’t think they can do the former.
Being in the US, JBL prices might not be as prohibitive as in Brasil, I once had a pair of JBL bluetooth earbuds and loved them, they had great audio quality and battery life, but unfortunately I lost them.
I can’t comment on particular products, but I do have this to say:
It is possible to get noise-cancelling headphones that reduce the effect of external noise on your music, and those are often built to completely cover your ears, because that makes noise cancellation easier.
However, this does not guarantee that your hearing will be protected. You cannot assume any protection for your hearing unless the headphones have been independently rated for that by an approved certification laboratory.
On that note, I must point out that some non-Western manufacturers routinely print fake certifications on their products. Think of all the exploding hoverboards we had a year or two ago with fake CE symbols on them.
Now for some technical commentary 
Noise cancellation systems work best with constant background noise from things like motors or steady wind, because they get time to assess the noise and then generate a constant “anti-noise”.
At the other end of the spectrum, they have a great deal of difficulty with impulse noise (think of things like pneumatic drills), because each impulse (each “bang” of the drill) has already happened and hit your ear by the time the noise cancellation circuit can detect it and try to do something about it.
With the present state of the art, the only way to reliably block high-decibel impulse noise is to physically obstruct it with properly-built ear defenders. There’s no reason why those ear defenders shouldn’t have music speakers and noise cancellation built in as well, but those extras would only be there to improve the quality of musical reproduction, not to protect your ears.
Finally, a safety note. I strongly advise people who own noise cancelling headphones not to wear them whilst dealing with road traffic. No problem if you’re riding on the bus or being driven in someone else’s car, that’s completely fine, but take them off when you’re walking, cycling or driving.
That noise cancellation circuit will quite happily null out all the traffic noise around you, which sounds great until some idiot car driver jumps a traffic light or breaks the speed limit around a corner just as you step out to cross the road. Being able to hear that engine noise could save your life.
The noise I usually wear headphones for, the kind ment for hearing protection, is a professional size chainsaw milling lumber. I’d like to listen to music while doing this but don’t want a cord dangling from my head.
I like KZ IEM’s, but my ear canals are too small to wear them comfortably for more than a few hours at a time. IEM’s, unless they’re ported, provide a lot of noise isolation.
For over the ear headphones, I really like Avantree Audition Pro’s, but they provide very little noise isolation. My favorite thing about them is that they can use Brainwavz HM5 memory pads, so I can get plush straight or angled pads, in velour, pleather, or real sheepskin, and even hybrid pads.
+1
Thanks for the other pieces of info as well.
For the real noisy jobs with chainsaw or big circular saw to cut the 1 meter long pieces of oak into 3 pieces for the fire to heat the home during winter I wear a very good helmet with ear protection and screen for the face.
During mowing and work with little less noisy things I have a Bluetooth headphone looking like this:
Headphones Wireless Bluetooth Earphone Headset with MIC Casque Audio Oreillette Support FM Radio TF for Mobile Phone PC Head
http://s.aliexpress.com/EJnU3EJ7
(from AliExpress Android)
It does not cover the ears, so the padded part touches the ears. I like that, can use it for hours without irritation.
The one I use is no longer available so I am ordering a white one of this to see if it is as good.
I like that it had a TF slot so can be used without link to phone.
I think bluetooth audio results in audio quality loss. I tried a wired headphone and a bluetooth. There is a significant loss of quality with the bluetooth.
This is kinda what I was wondering
Thanks for the responses everyone
Sure, but when I am working, the wires are in the way and no wired headphone works for long, or they get disconnected, making me stop what I am doing, put the plug back in, anoying.
it depends on your music source, your bluetooth protocol, your DAC, in range of few hundred dollars, i dont think you can notice the difference in sound quality